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Intimacy & Aging Seminar 2nd Annual

06/21/142nd ANNUAL INTIMACY AND AGING SEMINAR

PART I

Keeping Passion Alive in an "Aging" Relationship

Does passion have to disappear after a couple has been married for a long time? Absolutely not, say relationship educators Amy and Charles Miron, who have been happily married for 46 years and have been running workshops and seminars for the past 20 years. They will offer tips on how a couple can keep their intimate relationship alive in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and beyond.

Amy Miron is a certified sex educator and therapist with the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT). She has a master’s degree in counseling from The Johns Hopkins University, and she teaches at The Community College of Baltimore County. Charles Miron is an American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT) certified sex therapist, member of the American Psychological Association, and Fellow of the Maryland Psychological Association. He has a master’s in psychology from Temple University and a doctorate in psychology from the University of Maryland. A licensed clinical psychologist, he is the coordinator of the psychology discipline at The Community College of Baltimore County.

Light Lunch

PART II

Dating Over 50

The dating world has changed since you were in high school or college. This seminar will be a forum for you to get answers to the questions you have about getting back into the dating scene. Dr. Susan Milstein will talk about the new etiquette rules, online dating sites, and how to navigate first dates and the beginning of an intimate relationship.

Dr. Susan Milstein, a professor in the Department of Health Enhancement, Science and Physical Education at the Rockville campus of Montgomery College in Maryland, has taught about intimacy and health topics for over 12 years and written widely on the topics. She is a master certified health education specialist and a certified sexuality educator.

Parking: A free parking voucher will be available for pickup at the registration table the morning of the event. This is for parking in the multilevel Sibley Medical Building parking garage only.

Registration: Cost of the seminar is $15, including a light lunch and parking fees in the parking garage. The seminar is open to all. Registration is required and will be closed when the limited capacity of the room is reached, so reserve early. Call 202-364-7602 to register.

MEET THE SPEAKERS

"Many people believe the myth that after a period of time passion escapes marriage, so it becomes true for them," says Amy Miron. "We’ll offer a combination of what to do and what not to do to keep that zing in the relationship." Amy and husband Charles Miron think thatworking as a team is an advantage: Charles speaks from the male perspective, and Amy speaks to the female perspective. "That helps cut through a one-gender presentation where people sometimes feel they’re not being understood," explains Charles. The number one problem that brings clients to their office is one partner having less interest in sexual intimacy than the other.

The Mirons believe it’s critically important that people understand how sexuality changes with aging. "Men often are misinformed about women’s bodies. Women may feel the man they knew 40 years ago is the man currently in the room with them," notes Charles. "We’ll cover the physiological changes and give suggestions on how to use those bodies with maximum effect at different ages." If you had a passionate relationship when you were young, it’s a good bet you can have it when you’re older, the Mirons say, but if you didn’t have that passion earlier it doesn’t mean you can’t create a better experience in older age. "It’s never too late to have a happy marriage," declares Amy.

Dr. Susan Milstein, alsobelieves in getting rid of outworn ideas about intimacy."Some people think that once you lose your partner, your dating life is over," she says. "Our culture often doesn’t acknowledge that people have the desire to date again." She points out that many who are interested haven’t dated for 30 or 40 years, and they want to know what the rules are. "A man will ask, ‘Do I hold a chair out for a woman?’ If he’s dating someone in the same age range his date may be expecting the same thing. But we’re talking about two different generations—the boomers, ages 50 to 60, and people over 70. So it depends." Boomers, she notes, tend not to be as concerned with traditional rules.

The 50-and-over crowd is one of the fastest-growing groups of online daters. Dr. Milstein believes it’s best to use a dating site geared to your age range, and she will recommend sites and explain how to write an online profile. What to do on a first date? Maybe not the standard dinner date requiring a lot of talking, she says, and she’ll suggest less nerve-wracking alternatives. She’ll discuss the issues involved in starting an intimate relationship. "The more we do seminars like this," says Dr. Milstein, "the more we broaden the conversation." This is for both.